theguardian.com
Today on the west coast of Scotland, at the Royal Troon Golf Club, a course originally founded in 1878 hosted one of the greatest one-on-one duels in the history of major championship golf. With a final round of 63 (which included a record-tying 10 birdies with two bogies), 40-year old Henrik Stenson outlasted World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson to win the 145th edition of The Open. The tournament, which used to be known as the British Open, is golf’s oldest major championship, dating back to October 17, 1860, which less than three weeks before Abraham Lincoln would be elected President of the United States.
As he hoisted the Claret Jug, Stenson became the first male Swedish golfer to capture a major championship (Annika Sorenstam, Stenson’s neighbor in Orlando, Florida, won 10 majors on the women’s side). By outlasting the 46-year old Mickelson, arguably the second greatest player of the last twenty years, Stenson’s victory is etched in history as the best mano-a-mano contest since the famous “Duel in the Sun.”
39 years ago to the day, at Turnberry, about 30 miles away from Royal Troon, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson staged what is considered one of the greatest contests in the history of golf. Now known as the “Duel in the Sun,” the 27-year old Watson outlasted the 37-year old Nicklaus, winning The Open by a single stroke. If the name Turnberry sounds familiar, it is now known as Trump Turnberry; Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump purchased the property two years ago.
In their classic match, Watson and Nicklaus matched scorecards precisely in the first three rounds, each posting scores of 68, 70 and 65. Paired together for the final two rounds, they started the final round at 7 under par, three strokes ahead of their nearest competitor, Ben Crenshaw. The slick-putting 25-year old Texan was still in the hunt through eight holes, only four strokes behind, but wound up finishing 13 strokes behind Watson.
In this epic battle Nicklaus was ahead by two strokes after 12 holes. Watson birdied the 13th and then rolled in a putt from off the green and nearly 60 feet away on the 15th to tie the Golden Bear with three holes to play. After each player parred the 16th, they remained tied as they strode to the par 5 17th. Watson hit the green in two and had a putt for eagle; Nicklaus missed the green but chipped it up to within four feet. Watson two putted for birdie; Nicklaus missed the short putt and fell one stroke behind.
With the outcome still in doubt on the par 4 18th, Watson hit what was probably (to that point) the greatest shot of his life, stroking his approach to within two feet. Nicklaus didn’t make it easy for him; after hitting his drive into deep rough, he managed to force the ball onto the green and drained a 40-footer for birdie. Watson answered with his tap-in birdie and won the title by one stroke with a final round 65. Nicklaus, one of the most gentlemanly sportsmen of all time, congratulated Watson with and spoke these heart-felt words: “I gave you my best shot, but it just wasn’t good enough. You earned it.”
Watson’s big win over Nicklaus was his second of the year; he also beat the great Nicklaus earlier in the season at The Masters. Just like at Turnberry, the two greats were tied after 68 holes although they weren’t playing together in Augusta as they were in Scotland. Nicklaus bogeyed the 18th while Watson birdied the 17th and the final margin was two strokes. In both The Masters and The Open, the legendary Nicklaus fired final rounds of 66 only to lose.
In many ways, “The Duel in the Sun” represented the passing of the baton of from Nicklaus to Watson. Nicklaus had been the PGA Tour’s leading money winner in five of the previous six years (from 1971 to 1976). With the two major titles and three other Tour victories, Watson was the leading money winner in 1977 and would repeat the feat for the next three seasons as well. Watson would win five more major titles; even in the twilight of his career, Nicklaus won four more, including the 1978 Open.
What made the 1977 Open unique among major golf tournaments is that it was truly a two-man contest. Watson completed the tournament at 12 under par; Nicklaus was 11 under. The third place finisher, ’77 U.S. Open champion Hubert Green, was 1 under, a full ten strokes back. For his effort, Watson won ten thousand pounds (£10,000).
Today, 39 years later, in what may be known as “The Duel the Sequel,” Stenson’s won a little more quid than Watson did, a full £1,175,000 and his performance was simply stunning. His final round 63, the same score posted by his playing competitor Mickelson in the opening round, was only the second time in the history of major championship golf that a player posted that score en route to winning the title (Johnny Miller being the other in the 1973 U.S. Open).
At 20 under par, Stenson set an Open Championship record for score relative to par. His aggregate total of 264 strokes was also a record. The the age of 40, he is the sixth oldest first-time winner in major championship history. Just as it was at Turnberry, the top two finishers lapped the rest of the field. Mickelson, though he fell three shots shy of Stenson’s total, was a full 11 strokes in front of J.B. Holmes, who finished third.
Mickelson reacts to missed birdie on 18, shoots a 63 (NY Times)
Just as Nicklaus’ bogey-free 66 in 1977 wasn’t good enough, Mickelson’s bogey-free 65 wasn’t enough today. It was the second lowest score of the day. On Thursday, Phil set the stage with an opening-round 63, lipping out his birdie putt on the 18th for what would have been the first 62 in the history of major championship golf. Golf Channel announcer Nick Faldo called the lip-out another case of the “62 goalie” keeping a player from reaching that number. It’s odd; Mickelson was the 26th player to post a 63, Stenson the 27th on Sunday. That’s a lot of people to post that score without anybody going one shot lower.
Henrik Stenson today after birdie on 15 (NY Times)
On Sunday, Stenson achieved his 63 by birdieing four of the last five holes. Just as Watson drained a putt of nearly 60 feet in 1977 on his 15th hole, the Swede holed a 51-footer on the 15th today; it was the putt that gave him a two stroke lead and began to seal the deal for the championship. Mickelson was still two behind on 18, needing a birdie for himself and a bogey for Stenson. Neither happened. Stenson’s drive was heading for a fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway but stopped a yard or two short; when he hit the green with his second shot the tournament was essentially over. On the green, as his curling putt disappeared into the hole, it merely capped his historic day and set the final margin of victory at 3 shots.
Today’s win at Royal Troon is the capstone of an excellent career for Henrik Stenson. He won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup in 2013, has won 9 other times on the European Tour and 4 other times on the PGA Tour (including the 2009 Players Championship, a “mini-major”). Stenson is a notoriously streaky player; one of his other Euro titles was just two weeks ago at the BMW International. He’s fantastic tee to green and when his putter gets going (as it did this week), he’s nearly unbeatable.
abc.net
For Mickelson, this had to be a bitter defeat, even as he was happy for the well-liked Stenson. He’s in great shape at 46 but, at that age, there aren’t going to be many more major victory opportunities to add his current total of five. Still, he’s playing well and has to be considered a favorite at the PGA Championship in two weeks in Springfield, New Jersey. Phil won the PGA 11 years ago, the last time the event was held at the Baltusrol Golf Club. Today, Lefty played bridesmaid at a major for the 11th time in his career; nobody has finished second more often except for Nicklaus himself.
Thanks for reading.
Chris Bodig